Required Reading Part 3: The Popular Edition

View parts one and two here and here :)

Now these three final novels are ones that I know most people have heard of, or even read, so they will contain no summary: only my own thoughts on reading them.

Part 3: The Popular Edition

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
You may recall a post last semester about my required reading. And guess what? Wuthering Heights was on it. This is lucky because not only do I look forward to reading Wuthering Heights again, but I also don't need to spend any more money on a different book.
[[Side note: the cover pictured is not the copy I own, but it's the newly re-released paperback cover. I love it!]]





2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
I read this book my freshman year of high school, and I don't remember much of it. We watched the movie for my English class last semester, so that helped refresh, but I am definitely looking forward to reading this again as an adult and understanding the deeper concepts.







3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
You could not imagine my excitement to see this book on the required reading list. I've owned this book for how many years, at least five, and I still haven't gotten around to reading it. I was so determined to get around to it when the movie came out, but I still never did. I'm excited to get started!







As you can probably tell, I am the most excited about these books, but I am also excited to get into some different novels/plays/poems that I may not have considered otherwise.

I hope that some of you will post about your required reading: I'd love to see what everyone else has/will read for class, whether you're in high school or college!

Jane

Required Reading: Mini Reviews

rMost of the reading I've been doing lately is for school, but I figured I might as well post my thoughts on those books as well. Just maybe someone else will have read these books and be able to relate to my thoughts.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
This book was fairly decent, but it didn't blow my mind. I enjoyed hearing the story told from the maid's point of view, and I liked how it didn't have a perfect happy ending like I was expecting. I think this was just a little easier for me to get through than Pride and Prejudice, so if you're someone who is looking for some classic romance and doesn't know where to start, this is definitely a good one to try. However, this book was blown out of the water as soon as the teacher had us watch a movie adaptation of Jane Eyre. Based on the movie, Jane Eyre is better than Wuthering Heights by a longshot.

I also read on Elizabeth Scott's blog that another adaptation of Jane Eyre will be released next year. Which I'm excited for.

Which reminds me that the copy of Jane Eyre that I ordered should be here... *checks email*... yep, right now. I just have to go downstairs and get it :)

Anyways onto the next review...

Wieland, or the Transformation by Charles Brockden Brown
I was quite excited to start reading this book, actually. I sneaked a peak at some reviews and got a general idea of the plot before I started, and I was instantly intrigued.

The book started out really slow. Since it was written so long ago, it was hard to understand the writing style. It got easier around halfway through, where the plot really picked up and it got really exciting. I actually didn't want to stop reading after about the halfway point. The ending was a bit of a letdown... I was hoping for some sort of explosion or something, I guess, since that's how the book starts out, but it was satisfying enough. However, I'm not looking forward to writing a paper about the theme... I'd rather just set this aside and start reading something else!

Which leads to...

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Review to come as soon as I finish :) This is the first contemporary book we're reading in English 105, and I'm about 30 pages in and I am dying to learn more about what's going on. It is definitely a page-turner so far!

That's all for my mini-reviews. :) Hope that makes up for the lack of reviews.

Expect an IMM post tomorrow, it'll cover the books I've gotten for the past two weeks. Also, lots of WoW posts, because there are A LOT of books I'm looking forward to!

Jane

As an added thought, does anyone else have any required reading that you would like to discuss?? I'm happy to hear about anything, because chances are I'll either want to or be forced to read it sometime in the future :)

In My Mailbox: Week 5

Information about In My Mailbox can be found here on The Story Siren's blog!
1. Sand Daughter by Sarah Bryant

Why?
It was on sale for $1 at Borders, and I thought it might be an interesting read. Something different, which may or may not turn out to be a good thing.






2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Why?
I'm going to be reading this for school soon, and I've actually wanted to try out a few more classic novels anyways.







Not much for me this week, as you can see. But I am still satisfied :)

Jane